Iranian Nationals, Cyber Attacks, New York 2013

Seven Iranian nationals have been charged with conducting a coordinated campaign of cyber attacks against 46 major US financial companies, primarily in the New York financial sector, from late 2011 to mid-2013.

The indictment, unsealed on [insert date], charges AHMAD FATHI, HAMID FIROOZI, AMIN SHOKOHI, SADEGH AHMADZADEGAN, OMID GHAFFARINIA, SINA KEISSAR, and NADER SAEDI with conducting distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against the financial institutions, resulting in hundreds of thousands of customers being unable to access their accounts and tens of millions of dollars being spent by the companies trying to stay online during the attacks.

The attacks, which occurred on more than 176 days, disabled victim bank websites and collectively cost the banks tens of millions of dollars in remediation costs as they worked to neutralize and mitigate the attacks on their servers.

FIROOZI is also charged with obtaining unauthorized access into the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems of the Bowman Dam, located in Rye, New York, in August and September of 2013.

The defendants were employed by two Iran-based computer companies, ITSecTeam and Mersad Company, which were sponsored by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that the indictment sends a powerful message that the US will not allow any individual, group, or nation to sabotage American financial institutions or undermine the integrity of fair competition in the operation of the free market.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the indictment was unsealed on [insert date].

The defendants are believed to be in Iran and are currently at large. The charges against them carry significant penalties, including fines and imprisonment.

Defendant: AHMAD FATHI, HAMID FIROOZI, AMIN SHOKOHI, SADEGH AHMADZADEGAN, OMID GHAFFARINIA, SINA KEISSAR, and NADER SAEDI

Criminal Charges: Conducting a coordinated campaign of cyber attacks against US financial sector on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

City: New York

State: New York

Exact Date: Late 2011 to mid-2013

Sentence: Currently at large

Dollar Amounts: Tens of millions of dollars in remediation costs

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